Category Archives: Adults Jiu Jitsu

Michel Miyashita, will be teaching a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Seminar in El Dorado Hills, CA on August 12th 2017.

9:00-10:00AM (age8-12) $20

10:00-NOON (age 13+) $45

Noon ~ OPEN MAT

The seminar will cover some of his best technical positions. Michel recently finished with a Silver medal at the San Jose IBJJF Open and will be competing in the Master World Championships in Las Vegas in several weeks. Join us for what is going to be a fun and learning event in El Dorado Hills.

Last weekend I competed at the Pan American Championship in Irvine. The Pan Ams is my favorite annual competition. It’s the only international competition in the U.S. where the entire competition team can participate in; from Juvenile to Master and White to Black Belt. It’s the first competition of the year where I focus all my efforts into being as well prepared as possible beforehand and give it my all when the Referee starts the match… usually.

My strategy going into my first match was to stay on top with either a takedown or letting my opponent pull guard, and then go for the pass. The Master’s divisions are short matches so I wanted to score first and be in the position to ride out the clock and work for Mount or submissions from Side Control.

I’m stretching in the bullpen, taking in the atmosphere of the building. The bullpen is a mix of tension with the fighters waiting to be called for their fights and elation with winning or being done for the competitors who already fought. The ring coordinator calls my name and my opponents and we follow him to our mat. I’m warm, I feel good, and I’m ready. The referee calls us out and I run on to the mat, bow, slap hands and fist-bump. It’s on.

My opponent is careful to engage, and we spend a couple minutes dancing around until I chase him down. We make grips and he pulls to an open guard. “Perfect!” I think. And this is pretty much where the entire match takes place. I feel good with my base and every time he tries to unbalance me I hold strong and ride it out. He has a good grip and Spider Guard on my left arm, but every time I try break it or get in a position to break it, he off-balances me and I have to focus on my base. There were a few instances where I broke the grips or he let go and I was moving and working my passes and then he’d get his grips again and we’d be right back in the same Spider Guard.

I’m watching the clock tick down to zero with the score tied at 0 points, 0 advantages, and 0 penalties. I’m thinking it would be foolish to try something risky to earn an advantage. I was on top and more active. I was more offensive and closer to a pass then he ever was to a sweep. All I had to do was not get scored on and there was only 10 seconds left. My opponent tried extending me one last time, but I stayed low and kept my weight back.

Time ended and we fixed our Gi’s. The referee held our arms and I took a deep breath. He raised my opponent’s arm and I turned away. I shook my opponent’s hand and congratulated him. I bowed to the Referee, thanked him for the job he had done and walked off the matt. I couldn’t believe it. How could I have not earned the decision win?

Well, I let the fight end with a tied score. Was the referee wrong with his decision? No, of course not. They don’t want to make the decision; they want you to score and make it clear that you won. It didn’t have to be in the last 10 seconds, but at some point in a 5 minute match you have to at least score an advantage. Otherwise there is nothing to have hard feelings about, other than your own performance.

What is the referee looking for in those situations? It’s completely subjective, yet completely justified. Every loss is a learning lesson and this isn’t the first decision that resulted in a loss for me, which is why I thought I had won. The lesson I take from it now is that it’s a coin-flip, in terms if you agree with the decision or not. They have their reasons and I’m sure if you ask, most will tell you why they ruled that way… after the fact.

EDH Jiu Jitsu had three competitors in action at the competition arena this weekend in San Jose, CA. Jamie, Ricky, and Danny all made their show in the NoGi divisions of the NAGA San Jose Grappling Championships. (North American Grappling Association).

Jamie won gold in the intermediate blue belt division and was called up to compete in the expert division for purple belts and above. Overall she made some impressive improvements from her last competition, and challenged herself to play outside of her comfort zone.

In the expert division, the final score of the six minute match was 8-3. Congratulations to Jamie on her performance and constant improvement. For those who are not in the know, Jamie trains 2-3 times daily both on and off the mat. Her dedication to improvement and pursuit of success is unmatched.

Danny and Ricky competed in the men’s division of the NAGA championships. Ricky fell short in his first match. Danny pulled through to the finals and finished with a Silver medal. He also made some impressive improvements from his last tournament experience at the Grappling X in Elk Grove, CA in November.

Regardless of the outcome, preparation for competition done right always leads to continued improvement. It’s exciting to see everyone give their best in the arena and make no excuses about their performance. We look forward to seeing these competitors in action again soon!!

Josh Bacon won Gold at the NABJJF (North America Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Federation) San Diego International Open. Josh competed in the NoGi division for the tournament held on February 26 in San Diego, CA. The NABJJF belongs to the SJJIF (Sport Jiu Jitsu International Federation) and it aims to expand and unite the sport internationally with rules, regulation and style that conforms to Olympic standards and embodies the Olympic spirit.

Josh made an impressive show of heart victory to secure a medal at the Grappling X tournament held in Elk Grove in November of 2016. He had to take a little break from training between the two competitions, but his passion to train, learn, and compete pulled him back out to the competition arena in San Diego. He had an impressive showing, and was back on the mat the following week after his return from San Diego.

On January 28th and 29th at the San Jose Community College the IBJJF (International Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Federation) San Jose Open took place. The tournament was a two day tournament in the Gi and NoGi. This was a great opportunity to test their skills in a local northern California competition. Probably the biggest tournament outside of the BJJ Tour Championships; US Open, American Cup, and All Star Championships. Members of EDH BJJ, competing as Yemaso BJJ, finished with the following results:

The tournament was a great opportunity to start the year with a competition. A few high lights of the tournament came with Zack Smith taking Bronze in his division but coming back the next day to win the Gold in the NoGi division. This showed great persistence and determination. Another big victory of the weekend came from coach Eliot Kelly winning gold in the Ultra Heavyweight division beating Vinicius de Magalhães of Vinny Magalhaes BJJ in the finals. Vinny is an incredibly talented prize fighter in MMA, Jiu Jitsu and Grappling. He is an ADCC champion, IBJJF World Champion, EBI and UFC competitor.

Coach Eliot made his second performance on the Fight to Win Professional submission only show in San Jose, CA on January 27th, 2017. The Gi and NoGi profession jiujitsu and grappling show travels the United States showcasing local talent. F2W Pro’s submission only format was one of the most exciting shows of 2016 among grappling and jiujitsu entertainment. The show in San Jose paid out over $30,000 in prize money and with the live audience of over 2,500 and an online viewership over 30,000 the event was a grand success. More on the event can be found here.

Coach Eliot matched up with Kyle Kingsbury, a BJJ black belt and former MMA fighter in the UFC. Their match was NoGi at 230lbs. Their match was one of the anticipated fights of the night along with Brazilian Jiu Jitsu legends, KURT OSIANDER, OSVALDO QUIEIXINHO MOZINHO, BRUNO FRAZZATTO, and RHALAN GRACIE.

ELIOT KELLY (EDH BJJ) VS KYLE KINGSBURY (CHECKMAT BJJ)

The match finished with a unanimous judge decision with 3-0 voting for Eliot’s victory. Needless to say, Kyle and Eliot put on a great show for the audience in attendance with a dynamic display of takedowns, guard attacks, and submission attempts.

Purple belt Allan Scott from El Dorado Hills Brazilian Jiu Jitsu has an incredible list of accomplishments in the sport for someone who has started at the age of 49. In addition to his jiujitsu accomplishments, he has a list of copyrights, patents, and other accomplishments under his belt. We had the privilege to have him share with us a presentation on his different and unique steps to best pursue the jiujitsu lifestyle.

His talk was an insightful analysis into the starting and continuing jiujitsu in your 40’s and 50’s. Below are the power point slides he used with some very helpful advice, links, and a plan for people to draw from and find success both on and off the mat.

Fundamentals Camp this weekend! No Class or Open Mat on Saturday or Sunday. We have a great camp planned to start the year! It’s not too late to register: CAMP DETAILS

– 11 hours of instruction & drilling

– 2 hours of Open Mat

– 3 Guest Speakers (details below)

Allan Scott (Surviving & Thriving with JiuJitsu)

Allan will talk about his experiences and lessons learned over the last 5+ years of training jiu jitsu and how it has influenced all the different aspects of his life. He will offer tips on what has worked and what hasn’t while trying to make jiu jitsu into a balanced, lifelong passion.

Ryan Flager (Lasting Impact of Leadership)

Ryan has been deployed 6 times to Afghanistan and Iraq serving with the 75th Ranger Regiment. Jobs included rifleman, sniper, sniper team leader and Sniper section leader. He took part in many combat operations and was awarded for his work while under fire. He took part in the rescue and recovery of the the extortion 17 helicopter crash, arguably one of the most catastrophic events from the war on terror. After the military he worked for the state department providing security for the U.S. Embassy in Iraq. Ryan will be talking about the lasting of impact of leadership.

Jackson Gudel (Perseverance Through Adversity)

Jackson was born in Sacramento, CA and attended Casa Robles HS where he was captain of the football team. After graduation from Humboldt State University in 2000, he worked for 5 years as the operations manager of a ceramic tile installation company in the family business. Joining the Army in November 2005, he went thru OSUT as an infantryman at Fort Benning, GA, Airborne School, Ranger Indoctrination Program, and assigned to 3rd PLT B CO 3/75th Ranger Regiment in 2006. He graduated Ranger school in 2008.

He was deployed six times in support of OIF/OEF, 3 times to Iraq, and 3 times to Afghanistan. While deployed to Mosul, Iraq he was wounded in action and received a Purple Heart. His wounds included gunshots to the pelvis and shoulder, a suicide bomber detonation resulting in TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury), and a gunshot wound resulting in a fractured pelvis. 7 months later, he deploy to the same position and did 3 more deployments as Fire Team Leader after his injuries. Medically retired from the Army in December of 2013, he is now married with 3 children.

The one thing we all have in common, 24 hours in a day. I’ve attached a schedule template and an example at the bottom of the page for your reference to make the best use of your time. I learned this in college from our wrestling coach, and I’ve used this template for 10+ years. The basic idea is:

1) ORGANIZE your day

2) FOLLOW through with the plan you organized (means nothing if you don’t)

3) PLAN AHEAD when conflicts prevent your follow through

——–

Notes on the schedule template example:

– USE COLOR for you to see how much time you spend doing stuff.

– Make sure it’s REALISTIC: (Studying the Odyssey at 11pm on Friday is probably not a good idea).

– COMMUNICATE with your spouse or coach what time is for what.

*** If you have a non traditional work schedule, it’s important to update your schedule every time it changes.

Eliot Kelly, head instructor of El Dorado Hills Brazilian Jiu Jitsu & Self Defense, qualified for the most prestigious submission wrestling tournament in the world last weekend in Bayville, New Jersey at the ADCC North American Trials. The ADCC (Abu Dhabi Combat Club) Championships, often referred as the Olympics of grappling, will be held in Helsinki, Finland in September, 2017.

The ADCC North American Trials featured some of the best grapplers in North America. Eliot had three bouts to secure his invitation. In his first, he won by referee decision after no points in overtime. In his semi final match, he won by 2 points in the overtime round. In the final match, he won by 2 points in the regulation round. His bouts can be found on flograppling.com

“It’s never easy to travel all the way across the country and compete, but I was able to qualify and make it to the championships. There’s plenty of time to prepare so I’m getting together my coaches from EDH Jiu Jitsu, One Body Pain & Performance, and Apex Wrestling now to represent our community and the United States!”